Photo is of the captain, proudly wearing Sludge brown, and NC at the summit of Cradle Mountain looking for signs of MicHael. I am confident that he had been there recently but I could find no trace!!!We are having a great time & have taken some good photos (and many bad ones) of some amazing scenery. Beach below is Wineglass Bay - a potential for next year's OBX.

Happy Christmas to all and looking forward to being together in the new year!!!Ch

Some of these items are returned to the transfer office, some end up in the museum collections, some are deaccessioned (i.e. removed from the Smithsonian’s collections), and some we can simply toss.

As archivists, we are constantly making the hard decisions about what is worth keeping and what is not based on SIA’s mission and collecting parameters. But some decisions, as with the items below, are relatively easy...

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Q: A 4.5-ft tall girl is standing 22 ft from a tree and sees her Frisbee stuck at the top of the 36-ft tree. What is the angle of elevation from the girl's line of sight to the Frisbee? (Round to the nearest degree.)

"Whatever is causing the dramatic and frankly disgusting changes in these bananas is able to penetrate any container and is completely undetectable by any known instrument," said visibly shaken FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, adding that the brown sections of banana were "quite mushy and gross." "We urge anyone currently in possession of normal yellow bananas to consume them immediately, before this mysterious browning malignancy can strike—and it will strike."

The disturbing news comes only weeks after the FDA's announcement that bananas' tough, fibrous outer layer should always be removed before consumption.

USA Ultimate announced their 2011 memberships are now on sale! Whether you are a player, fan or just enjoy supporting the Ultimate enthusiast in your family, there's a membership to meet your needs.

Currently, USA Ultimate offers membership in the following categories: Youth, College, Adult, Coach, Player/Coach, Friends & Family and Lifetime. So have a look at the various levels of membership and list of benefits and choose the category that is right for you!

Join by December 31st as a Lifetime member in December & receive a $150 discount!

Friday, December 03, 2010

More...“Dr. Rumack [Leslie Nielsen (1926 - 2010)]: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?Dr. Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Call for Nominations - SLUDGEYS 2010Submit your nominations (anecdotes/fabrications) within calendar year '10, factoring in the spring season + fall season, to the Awards Committee in these possible areas:

Best OBX Moment AwardCriteria: A memorable time at our happy, sandy place.

Best/Most Offensive Play on Offense (Individual)Criteria: Scoring is a big part of offense, but that’s not the only criterion for receipt of this award. In any particular game or period of a game, did someone exhibit mad throwing skills? Or incredible catching talent?? Or great cutting proficiencies? Overall common sense on offense?

Best/Most Offensive Play on Offense (Group)Criteria: Which Sludge group play best put up the numbers en route to Sludge’s total score in a particularly impressive game?

Best/Most Defensive Play on Defense (Individual)Criteria: “Our best defense is a good offense,” does not justify America’s military, so that pre-emptive crap doesn’t have a place here. The best play by an individual, which was most responsible for Sludge’s defensive success in a particular game.

Best/Most Defensive Play on Defense (Group)Criteria: The best group play that was most responsible for keeping the opponent from scoring.

Most Entertaining Point/Moment (on the field or sidelines)Criteria: A moment or point, in or near the game, that resulted in laughing, crying, blushing, delirium, and/or throwing up.

Spirit of the Game Award (on the field)Criteria: By the book, “Ultimate has traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship.… In Ultimate, the honor system works…” blah, blah, blah.

Best Spirit of the Game Award (off the field)Criteria: Karma; following the Golden Rule; by the Law, not getting arrested.

Best World Peace AwardCriteria: Best moment of someone walking away when they really wanted to punch the opponent.

Most Improved/Worsened AwardCriteria: Did someone nicely recover from an injury? Basically, did someone smartly slow down the worsening process?

Best Food Offering AwardCriteria: Best edible offering based on taste, creativity, and appearance at either a game, Sludgefest, OBX, or pickup. Otherwise known as the ‘Bruce’ Award in honor of his delicious oatmeal cookies.

Best Story About ‘the Bestest’ Play Award (Fiction)Criteria: Awarded to the author of the best work of fiction about ultimate, injury, family or whatever.

Best Excuse for Missing a Game Award (Fiction or Non-fiction)Criteria: Quality of research and writing are major considerations in the judging of this award, as are insight and originality.

#1 Fan AwardCriteria: Any one, any one, at all that attends Sludge game(s) without stealing playing time from us. Cheering is not necessarily required.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

If you have 20 pounds (?) of brown potatoes to wash for your Thanksgiving meal throw them in the top shelf of the dishwasher. Set on the quick rinse cycle and let your dishwasher clean the potatoes... definitely a space and time saver during the holidays.

Andrew sugarcoats...Looking back at the recent Fall season, there's reason to think that we can still be competitive in B league (and don't need to be demoted to C).

We finished 5-6 overall (including the tournament) and scored a total of 135 points (vs. 136 points by our opponents). Even with our declining team speed, the average point differential in the games we lost was only about 4.5. In most of the losses, we were close despite lots of drops and not-great throws. If we had decreased drops and increased good throws (about 27%?), we would have likely won a few more of the close games.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Info: Having friends or family over for Thanksgiving? Forget the eggnog & give brown Tofurky soda a try! Let the kids find this soda in the fridge and just watch a Truth or Dare game kick off. Tofurky makes a great gift for your vegan friends or simply a fun drink that'll help make this Thanksgiving Holiday unique.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sludge formed for their pool play game of their 25th season. What would seem routine, had a more 'teen' feel with our young opponents. Ammon, Ruthie, Anna, Daniel were cheering, but Sludge weren't scoring, 0-2.An acrobatic goal line catch by Rachel put Sludge on the board, 1-2. After a tightening of the belt, 4-4.

Briefly, Sludge looked to take control as the D helped create transition O. Consecutive cuts were difficult to come by. Yet scoreboard hucks to Brian from Matthew, from David to Steve, & from Mike were all successful. Though the team wearing boxers had more fight in them. Loss 8-12.

:Game 2:The next game flowed like easy crossword solutions. Already up 1, Chris caught a 50-yard flick to make it 3-1. Jen scored to push it to a 3 point lead, then Russ bookended (D, then score) Sludge to half, 8-5.

Zone walled up the blue-shirts against their endzone, 9-6. The offense pinched across the far sidelines for additiOnal. Opposite of loss...Win 13-6.

At 8-8, the energy output by Sludge into points did not transfer to scores. Charlie & Andrew kept pointed throws going, 10-11. With a hardcap on, the scores stopped clicking. Loss 10-12.

:Game 4:Playing a 4th (meaningless) game is similar to reading your horoscope - it's fun, but isn't taken seriously. The 90 minutes after Sludge's toughest matchup and the last game allowed Bucci to layout (nap), MicHael to have 2 great pulls (sweaty sox off), & practice passing (nutty snacks).

Down 0-3 very quickly, Sludge looked s-crappy. Was the sun setting? Yes, literally. Such a factor that the green team switched to white. 3-5.

Sludge picked up the Pisces to get on the board. A more Libra person D was implemented, but couldn't Taurus past 25%. Sludge was beat deep & beat short. The good news: No clogging; the bad news: no cuts. 3-8.

At 7-14, Sludge was running...just not as fast as Keller or Ammon. Was the sun setting? Yes, figuratively. Loss 7-15.

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As always, a fun-filled day to be with Sludge! Too bad we had to keep score.

Content on continuing the predictable Door-to-doOr collection, brown was repeatedly denied at the goal line with either throwaways or drops (not the candy kind). Instead of delicious chocolate confection, Sludge were begrudgingly on the receiving end of too many (lemon) drops. Sludge wasn’t only cut-off, they were cut on. Repeatedly. 6-8.

At 6-12, it was scary how good Sludge’s OFFense was making Karmakaze’s defense look. The team stuck at 6 points operated so much better when there wasn't a sugar rush. Field space opened up. At 7-13, goals were budged to seek more treats in the form of turnovers (not the apple kind). At thus, began the great race to a respectable double-digits. 9-14.

Sludge comeback was an hour late (early DST observance) and a few SNICKERS short. (Respectable)Loss 10-15.